Brands today are looking for new ways to reach and engage digitally-focused customers, such as live events and entertainment. Last week, Craig Brommers, CMO at American Eagle, Ekta Chopra, Chief Digital Officer at e.l.f, and David Sandström, CMO at Klarna discussed how social commerce is fostering new customer connections for their brands at Ad Age Next: Retail.
Below, we’ve highlighted the top takeaways from the session.
Leverage social commerce to drive revenue.
As the #1 jeans brand for women of all ages, American Eagle’s sweet spot is its Gen Z shoppers. One of the most surprising things the brand noticed when collaborating with Snapchat was that virtual shopping is not just a brand building and engagement play, but a real revenue opportunity. Gen Z enjoys engaging on social media, and in this day and age brands have to “throw away the old rules of retail; it’s innovate or die.” Craig also emphasized the power of influencers: the longer-lasting, authentic influencer relationships will yield the highest returns.
Cater your strategy to your channel.
Physical shopping used to be a group activity, but digital commerce changed all of that. E.l.f is currently focused on creating relational, fun, and engaging shopping experiences online that will keep customers entertained and coming back. The key is to blend and harmonize shopping and entertainment for consumers through impactful collaborations and experiential technologies. Having a holistic approach, a consistent presence, and a thoughtful strategy for various channels will ultimately drive success.
Create better, more emotional experiences.
The merger of entertainment and shopping has been at the heart of Klarna’s focus over the last few years. The evolution from shopping entertainment, to long-form livestream shopping has taught us that above all, consumers crave more human interaction in their daily online shopping activities. E-commerce still lacks much of what the mall brought to shoppers; peer engagement, touching and trying products, a sense of urgency, and direct feedback from sales support and friends. On a global scale, as e-commerce shifts from being transactional to more emotional, retailers will need to facilitate these emotional experiences for their audiences.